Verdict on Naidu’s custody petition posted to Friday, IRR bail hearing to Sept 26

VIJAYAWADA: The Special ACB court dealing with the Rs 371 crore skill development scam case in Vijayawada on Thursday posted the much-awaited verdict on the custody petition of Nara Chandrababu Naidu to Friday morning. The verdict was supposed to be pronounced on Thursday.

The ACB Special Court judge who occupied the chair at around 5 p.m. reportedly enquired about the status of the quash petition at the High Court, before posting the verdict for Friday. The custody petition became crucial, as accused Chandrababu Naidu’s judicial custody ends on Friday.

During the arguments that ended on Wednesday, supreme court advocates Sidharth Luthra and Sidharth Agarwal, counsel for Chandrababu Naidu pointed out that there was no need for custody of their client because the AP CID had failed to prove the involvement of Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development scam.

On the other hand, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy on behalf of the CID said that the police still need to question the former Chief Minister in connection with the multi-crore scam as the accused was not cooperative and evaded the questions posed by them at the SIT office in Tadepalli on the day he was arrested at Nandyal.

The AP CID, on the other hand, prepared the ground to seek questioning of Naidu by keeping him at the Rajamahendravaram prison, even if custody was denied by the court.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh High Court posted the hearing on the interim bail of Chandrababu Naidu in the Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam case for September 26.